Ireland Travel Photography

In October Steve and I went on a seven day trip to Ireland and completely fell in love with the country. We decided to go southwest along the coast, and drove from Dublin to Cork, Kilarney, Dingle and Doolin. Crowd sourcing from our friends and family who visited or lived there (especially my Irish Godfather and best friend Tara), we decided this would give us a good viewing of city and country. Arriving in Dublin at 6AM, we located our rental car and embarked upon a frightening drive through the morning rush, on the wrong side of the road, to our hotel. If you need a visual to understand, I would sum it up like this. We needed to rest the first day so we could go out exploring on our second day — we visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral and walked the streets of Dublin. We loved the Temple Bar area, walking along the River Liffey and of course the nightlife and music that fills the streets. Much Guinness and whiskey was consumed, and the food scene was impressive. The following day we started our journey to Cork, making a quick stop in Kilkenny for a coffee and an amble through the shopping center. We continued on our journey and arrived at Cork just as the sun was setting. It was a quick but lively evening in Cork, filled with music and more Guiness of course. In the morning we went to the English Market, an obvious highlight of the trip for the foodie in me. It was everything I imagined and more! We bought nibbles and packed a lunch as we continued on our journey, heading to Killarney National Park. I don’t know how we were so lucky, but the weather was absolutely amazing. We had a picnic in the park and enjoyed the gardens of the the Muckross House, views from the foot of the Macgillycuddy Reeks (Ireland’s highest mountain range) and the Lakes of Killarney. After the quick stop, we continued on to our next destination, Dingle. So many of our friends raved about Dingle, and it more than lived up to the hype. If you can make it to Dingle in one piece (the most beautiful but scary drive of our lives), it is well worth it. The roads are so narrow that it’s difficult to navigate, but only one hub cap was harmed and we arrived to the most warm and welcoming B&B, The Pax House, for a two-night stay. Dingle is a small fishing village on the west coast of Ireland, overlooking Dingle Bay. One of our favorite parts of the trip was visiting the Dingle Distillery. Our tour was hosted by the most wonderful orator who was truly so passionate about not only the distillery itself, but the history of the process.  We learned so much and of course enjoyed the gin and vodka samplings. We just missed the release of their newest addition, whiskey! The next day we drove the Slea Head Drive and continued onto Doolin. We arrived in Doolin just before sunset, in time to see the Cliffs of Moher. I know they are very touristy but it was truly breathtaking. It was the perfect way to end our trip before we headed back to Dublin to catch our flight.